The present invention relates to a disposable food delivery container and, more particularly, to a container commonly known as a “pizza box”.
Food containers, such as pizza boxes, are very well known. The purpose of the container is to receive a food item, such as a pizza pie, which has just been prepared for consumption; e.g., oven baked, and to hold it for an extended period of time in its original condition in such a way that its freshness and taste are, to the greatest extent possible, retained.
Numerous food containers of this type have been devised and patented. Set forth below is a list of the most relevant patents known to applicant.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,214
U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,989
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,137
U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,543
U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,174
U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,292
U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,477
U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,139
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,231
U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,237
U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,146
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,755
U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,130
U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,324
U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,448
U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,722
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2001/0000561
All of these prior art containers comprise substantially similar upper and lower container sections which are shaped to cooperate and define an enclosure for receiving the food item to be delivered in the container. Usually these sections are formed of a substantially square panel, defining a base plane and having four lateral edges of substantially equal length and four corners, as well as depending sidewalls formed integrally with the panel and extending along its lateral edges at an angle with respect to the base plane. Each sidewall is of substantially constant width along the length of the edge.
In a common embodiment of the food delivery container known in the art, the sidewalls of the upper container section interleave, either inside or outside, with the sidewalls of the lower container section, when the two container sections are mated together with a food item inside. In another common embodiment of the food delivery container, the four sidewalls of each container section define a plane of attachment to the other corresponding container section, with the sidewalls adapted to mate with the corresponding sidewalls of the other container section at the plane of attachment. Such an arrangement is known, for example, from the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,237. It is also known, in a round configuration, from the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,273,174 and 5,605,231.